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Carlos Delgado to join Blue Jays greats

Carlos Delgado, the Blue Jays all-time home-run leader, will be inducted onto the team’s Level of Excellence on July 21 this year, joining the likes of George Bell, Dave Stieb, Joe Carter, Tony Fernandez and Roberto Alomar.

Carlos Delgado had plenty of times to practice that just-hit-a-home run smile during the course of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays. (David Cooper / Toronto Star file photo)

On July 21 Carlos Delgado will come home to Toronto and take the field at the Rogers Centre for the first time in nearly a decade.

He won’t have his glove or his spikes, but the Blue Jays’ all-time home-run leader will certainly be flashing that unmistakable smile when his name and number are unveiled in the stadium’s upper deck and he takes his rightful place alongside George Bell, Dave Stieb, Joe Carter, Tony Fernandez and Robbie Alomar as the greatest players in Jays’ history. He retired in 2011.

“It’s very nice company,” Delgado said recently about his induction to the club’s Level of Excellence. “You don’t play the game to get recognized, but at the end of your career if you do get recognized for doing the right thing it is a very nice feeling.”

Signed out of Puerto Rico as a 16-year-old, the converted catcher would go on to become one of baseball’s premier left-handed power hitters.

Not only did he hit more home runs than any other player in a Jays’ uniform, Delgado also holds the franchise records for most walks, runs, doubles, RBI and the highest OPS. His 473 career jacks put him 31st on Major League Baseball’s all-time list.

What may be most remarkable about his career is that he was only named to two all-star teams.

During his time in Toronto, Delgado also showed himself to be a multi-faceted person with interests beyond baseball. He spoke out against the U.S. Navy’s weapons testing on Vieques Island, in his native Puerto Rico; he protested the Iraq War by refusing to stand during the playing of “God Bless America” in ballparks in 2004; and his Extra Bases charitable foundation continues to raise thousands of dollars to support development efforts in Latin America.

This summer, when the Blue Jays add his name to their list of all-time greats, Delgado will be joined by his parents, his wife Betzaida, as well as their 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

“The whole crew will be there,” he said, adding it will also be nice to share the day with Jays’ fans, who he says always felt like family. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be an emotional day.”

Delgado, who was the hitting coach for Team Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic, recently spoke to The Star to discuss his career in Toronto, baseball’s ongoing fight against performance-enhancing drugs and his chances at induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame.

How did you feel when you got the word that you would be added to the Blue Jays’ level of excellence?

Very excited, very honoured. This is a big thing. Some of the names up there, these are some of the people that I admire and that I recognize as great players and great human beings from the time that I came to Toronto. I’m very humbled and I’m very excited.

Is there anyone in particular you’ll be thinking about when your name is unveiled in the upper deck?

There were a lot of people along the way who had an influence in my career. (Former Jays’ manager) Cito Gaston, who gave me the opportunity and taught me a lot about hitting; (Former Jays’ coach) Mel Queen, he’s no longer with us, but he was a big influence on my career and I will always remember that; Paul Beeston, who always treated me like a gentleman, even when I was 16 years old, signing me out of Puerto Rico. I had some great teammates — Shawn Green, Robbie Alomar, Darrin Fletcher, Pat Hentgen — these people were like family for a long time. It’s not just my award. I couldn’t do a lot of stuff without my teammates.

We talked a little about your highlights in Toronto (see sidebar), but what were your biggest disappointments as a Blue Jay?

Losing. You’re competing in a tough division. I had my struggles. I had a couple of injuries that I wish didn’t happen. I remember that one season (2004) when I ended up with 99 RBIs. It wasn’t all great. There were times when I was hurt or struggling and the team wasn’t playing well. I remember getting booed at the SkyDome. But that’s part of your development and it makes you a stronger player and person. People expect us to perform and we understand that. I can’t really make an excuse when I’m hitting .225. They’re paying me to play and produce and I understood that. But it’s okay, no hard feelings.

Who was your favourite player growing up? Who did you idolize?

I was a big fan of Roberto Clemente. I didn’t have the opportunity to see him play, but we understood his career and his legacy. He was an idol and an icon in Puerto Rico. Then I had the opportunity, when I was younger, to see Roberto Alomar, Sandy Alomar, Ruben Sierra, Juan Gonzalez, all those Puerto Rican players.

Do you still watch the game now?

I do not watch a whole lot. I still get involved in the game in different capacities and I stay in touch with my friends that still play. But I’m not the guy who’s like, “Oh, it’s 7 o’clock I have to run home to turn on the game.” If the game is on and the kids are already in bed I’ll watch a couple innings here or there.

How do you think the game has changed since you retired?

I like to think the game is the same, but obviously it has changed. It’s a bigger industry now, it’s a big business. There’s a lot more on the commercial side and the corporate side and TV revenue. But I think the game is the same. In the past there seemed to be more respect for the older players. It used to be a little more strict. Now you see a whole bunch of talented kids, but they might not have the same respect for the game because they feel like they’re supposed to be there because they’ve had a couple years in the minors and they were a high draft pick. Stuff like that. I like to think of the good side of it; it’s a great game, very challenging. You have to put your time in and be dedicated. If you try to cut corners the game will catch up to you. You can’t take any shortcuts.

What do you think of how Major League Baseball has tried to better police the use of performance-enhancing drugs?

I think it’s great. It’s a beautiful game and you want the players to be at their best without cheating and without external help. The image of the game has taken a big hit in recent years. They’re sending the message that if you use performance-enhancing drugs we’re going to catch up to you and we are not going to let you play until you prove to us that you’re clean. I think that’s great, especially since I never used anything. After 17 seasons I can say I gave everything I had and I never had to [use performance-enhancing drugs]. I was never tempted to do that. So I think the new testing is great.

Do you think players who have admitted or are alleged to have used PEDs in their career — Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, among others — should be voted into the Hall of Fame?

You know what, I don’t get to vote. The people you mention, they were great baseball players. They had great careers. I know you’re asking for my opinion, but I don’t spend too much time thinking about it because I don’t have control over it. But I think it’s good that they’re sending the message that they’re not accepting this. I think it’s good for the game, good for the kids. But it’s hard [if you don’t let them in] because how far do you go back before there was testing? You don’t know who did and who didn’t use. You kind of want to be fair to everybody. So I’d like to stay away from that one because I don’t have all the facts.

How widespread was the drug use in the so-called steroid era?

I’m going to be completely honest with you. It is funny how people from the outside can say this or that or how many or how much. I never saw anybody go into the bathroom with a syringe or anything like that. If somebody did it, they probably did it at their place where you couldn’t see it. It wasn’t like guys throwing syringes and bottles all over the clubhouse; that was not the case. I guarantee you that.

Do you look at this honour in Toronto as a cap at the end of your career?

It would be nice to get into the hall of fame — I’m not going to lie to you. (Delgado is eligible to be added to the ballot in 2015). I would be lying to you if I said it wasn’t important to me. Maybe this is a rehearsal [laughs]. You never know.

Carlos Delgado’s Top 5 Blue Jays moments

“Some of my favourite memories were stuff that didn’t even happen in the game,” Delgado said. “Just messing around with Darrin Fletcher, or hanging out with Jose Cruz or Shawn Green. It’s ordinary stuff, but over the course of years you build extraordinary relationships.”

That said, we still asked Carlos to pick his top-5 favourite moments as a Blue Jay.

Opening Day, 1994

Delgado officially made his major-league debut the previous fall, but he had just a single at-bat in a pair of games in the season’s final series. So for all intents and purposes, Opening Day in 1994 was his true debut.

The game was at home at the SkyDome, played in front of a sold-out crowd of 50,484, who gathered to watch the Jays return less than six months after Joe Carter’s World Series walk-off.

“It was my first Opening Day in the big leagues,” recalls Delgado, then a 21-year-old rookie who made the team out of spring training as the club’s starting left fielder. “I’ll never forget it.”

Delgado homered in the 8th inning, his first of 336 as a Blue Jay, as Toronto defeated the Chicago White Sox 7-3.

The 2000 season

“I will always remember that year,” says Delgado, who hit 41 home runs, led the league with 57 doubles, drove in 137 runs and posted a slash line of .344/.470/.664.

Not only was it arguably his best statistical year, but the Jays were also threatening — at least in the first half of the season — to make a run at the postseason. They were tied for the division lead with the New York Yankees at the all-star break, but couldn’t hold on and fell to third by season’s end.

First all-star game in 2000

Delgado was named to just two all-star teams in his career and never as a starter. His first came in 2000 at Turner Field in Atlanta. In his only at-bat, Delgado battled right-hander Darryl Kile through nine pitches before driving a double into right field.

June 25, 2000

It was Delgado’s 28th birthday and he was celebrating in Toronto at the SkyDome in front of 31,022 fans, as well as Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox.

Martinez was nasty that year. His ERA heading into the game was 1.18. He had a WHIP under 1.00, struck out 130 in 99 innings and held opposing batters to a paltry .161 average. He was almost unhittable.

But with the Red Sox up 5-3 in the bottom of the 7th, Delgado stepped up to the plate with two out and Chris Woodward on first. With the count full, he smacked Martinez’s pitch over the wall to tie the game.

“It just felt so good to homer off of him,” says Delgado. “And on my birthday.”

The Jays eventually defeated Boston 6-5 in 13 innings.

Four home run game

On Sept. 25, 2003, against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Delgado became just the 15th player in baseball history to hit four home runs in a single game. (No player has ever hit five.) And Delgado did it in four consecutive at-bats.

When Josh Hamilton did it last year, it was the first time since Delgado’s achievement nearly a decade earlier.

“I got lucky. It’s one of those things,” he said after that game. “I’m not going to try to analyze things.”

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